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Baby names

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Eden - is it too 'feminine'?

94 replies

namechange097 · 05/06/2019 10:23

DP and I both loved the name Eden for a boy (I've loved it for years), but have had several comments that it's a girls name and that a boy would be made fun of with it.

Opinions? Would it cause confusion/bullying? It is a unisex name.

OP posts:
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Sagradafamiliar · 05/06/2019 10:24

I know one of each, it's a lovely name :)

regularbutpanickingabit · 05/06/2019 10:26

I think it’s one of those names that you associate with kids you know. For me, that would be two girls and so it doesn’t seem unisex, it definitely means I expect a child called Eden to be a girl. Those who know only boy Eden’s will feel the opposite. So yes, lots of people make assumptions.

Does that bother you?

SnowyAlpsandPeaks · 05/06/2019 10:29

It’s a very feminine sounding name.

SchnitzelVonKrumm · 05/06/2019 10:32

Everyone will assume you're Chelsea fans...

namechange097 · 05/06/2019 10:33

@SchnitzelVonKrumm wait... why?

OP posts:
Mrsjayy · 05/06/2019 10:34

It sounds more"earthy" than femminine to me I know of 2 Edens girl and boy, boy Eden is now a man and his mum was newage hippyish Smile sorry for rambling but if you like it use it .

AllStar14 · 05/06/2019 10:34

My DD is called Eden and I got a lot of comments that it was a boy's name Hmm

MileyWiley · 05/06/2019 10:34

Would always associate it with a girl, and I don't even know any children with that name. It is lovely for a girl though.

tiramisu1 · 05/06/2019 10:35

I know a male Eden.

It sounds masculine to my ears.

Bubblysqueak · 05/06/2019 10:35

I've only ever known girls called Eden and didn't realise it was supposed to be unisex.

IndistinctRadioChatter · 05/06/2019 10:36

I would assume it is a girl. Although my child has a name that was normal in our home country but here apparently sounds like it’s for a girl. He hasn’t been scarred.

Penny4Thoughts · 05/06/2019 10:37

It sounds girly to me but lots of names do like Ellis for example - people quickly adjust & their generation will have an enormously diverse set of names so I very much doubt it would be a problem. If they’re bothered at all they’d just go by Ed?

MrsEricBana · 05/06/2019 10:38

Eden Blackman.

NellWilsonsWhiteHair · 05/06/2019 10:38

I know one man and two girls named Eden. My automatic assumption is female, but that might be because the first Eden I knew was a girl iyswim. I wasn’t shocked to meet a male Eden, but I was an adult by then.

I think it’s probably uncommon enough you could still use it for either.

MrsEricBana · 05/06/2019 10:39

It's a metrosexual type of name imo.

namechange097 · 05/06/2019 10:39

@MrsEricBana where I first heard it!

OP posts:
NellWilsonsWhiteHair · 05/06/2019 10:40

It sounds girly to me but lots of names do like Ellis for example - people quickly adjust & their generation will have an enormously diverse set of names so I very much doubt it would be a problem.

Totally agree with this - my experience is that children just aren’t judgmental or weird about names in the way that posters on the MN baby names board some of their parents can be.

CharDeeMacDennis · 05/06/2019 10:43

I named my Dd Eden after first hearing the name in Ruth Rendell's A Dark Adapted Eye, which was on TV when i was a teenager. So it's feminine for me. I have heard of it as a male name, though.

Shadow1234 · 05/06/2019 11:03

Agree with 'NellWilsonsWhiteHair'

bridgetreilly · 05/06/2019 11:06

It's definitely a boy's name, and I was surprised to hear people calling their daughters Eden, though it's much more common for names to move from male to female than the other way, I suppose.

FrancisCrawford · 05/06/2019 11:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Astronica · 05/06/2019 11:09

In theory it's a unisex name but in current practice it's almost always a girl. So I would hesitate to use a name for one sex that in current practice is mostly used for the other.

AdaShelby · 05/06/2019 11:11

I'd think you were Chelsea fans too

Peachbubble · 05/06/2019 11:11

I know a boy and girl Eden - neither is teased about their name

TheDeflector · 05/06/2019 11:12

How is Ellis girly? Confused

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